The California man who scaled Santa Monica Pier’s famous Ferris wheel and claimed to have a bomb on him was identified on Wednesday.
Juan Gonzalez, 37, from Ocean Grove, California has been charged with making a false bomb threat to authorities, resisting arrest, and making criminal threats which is a felony.
On Monday around 2.35pm Gonzalez climbed approximately two thirds of the way up the Ferris wheel and claimed to have a bomb in his backpack.
There were around 10 riders on the wheel at the time, and the ride had to be stopped as Gonzalez was standing on the support structures.
At 4pm Gonzalez was seen speaking to police negotiators and appeared to be agitated and upset as he continued on with the bomb threats.
PICTURED: Juan Gonzalez as he climbed two thirds of the way up on the way up on the famous Santa Monica Ferris wheel on Monday afternoon. He had no harness as he maneuvered around the structure and shouted bomb threats
On Monday around 2.35pm Juan Gonzalez was seen scaling the Pacific Park Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier. He made several bomb threats while he was up on the 85-foot-tall structure, but he no explosives or weapons were found on him
Half an hour later, he climbed down and was detained. He did not have any explosives or weapons on him.
Gonzalez, who was dressed in jeans, a blue tee-shirt and Nike sneakers appeared to be ‘in crisis’ according to police.
At 6.29pm the Santa Monica Police tweeted: ‘The #SantaMonica Pier is closed for police activity.’
‘We have a subject who has climbed onto the Ferris Wheel. The subject was heard by witnesses saying he has a bomb.
Our officers are currently evacuating Pacific Park and the Pier and our Crisis Negotiation Team is contacting the subject who appears to be in crisis.’
Photos on social media showed a heavy police presence.
‘I can confirm that we have officers out on the Pier contacting a subject in Pacific Park,’ said Lt. Erika Aklufi, spokesperson for Santa Monica Police Department.
While the ride came to a halt, the passengers on board had to stay there while the rest of the pier was evacuated.
In the initial 911 call dispatchers were told that there was a ‘distraught male subject’ climbing the 85-foot-tall Ferris wheel.
Once Gonzalez was on the ground he was taken into custody and evaluated on scene by firefighters.
At 7.20pm the police department posted a second tweet that said: ‘All media helicopters are being asked to take a higher altitude to allow the Negotiations Team to hear the subject.’
‘The subject is no longer on the Ferris wheel and is in police custody. Please continue to stay away from the area as the investigation wraps up. More will be shared when available,’ Santa Monica Police Department posted at 7.32pm.
A police spokesperson told KTLA 5 that the pier was ‘moderately busy’ at the time as it was a sunny beach day.
Brooke Martelli from Salt Lake City told DailyMail.com she was horrified to discover people were still on the Ferris Wheel.
‘There’s a mom on there with two small children. It’s so scary,’ she said.
After hours of negotiation, Gonzalez came down off the Ferris wheel and was tackled by officers before he was taken into custody. He has been charged with making a false bomb threat to authorities, resisting arrest, and making criminal threats
Brooke Martelli from Salt Lake City was on the pier that day and told DailyMail.com she was horrified to discover people were still on the Ferris Wheel. ‘We were going to go on it, but then we were told we had to leave the amusement park’
‘They have been on there for over a hour. Thank goodness we weren’t on the Ferris Wheel.
‘We were going to go on it, but then we were told we had to leave the amusement park. This is crazy. I just worry about the young kids on there.’
A statement from the Santa Monica Police Department said: ‘The Santa Monica Police Department thanks the members of the SMFD, Santa Monica’s Office of Emergency Management, and the professionals at the Pier and Pacific Park for their coordination and cooperation in the successful outcome of yesterday’s incident and subsequent arrest.’
Gonzalez has been booked into the Santa Monica Jail and his case is set to be presented to the District Attorney for filing on the threat charges.
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